God's Power Made Perfect in Weakness Pt. 3

This is a continuation of Part 2.  The remainder of Jessica's story.  

"We all have to grow up at some time or another.  Sometimes it takes a death or a physical ailment or a tragedy... mine took all of that.  And although my story has scars and things I regret, it is beautiful.  It is beautiful because it is signed in the blood of Jesus: forgiven.  

So whenever I get discouraged or when the pain is really intense, I just focused on that.  I just kept repeating scripture.  I kept praying for Japan.  I kept praying for you all.  Pain just reminds my heart that this isn't my Home.  It'll be over one day and then after that, forever with Jesus.  It gives me hope to keep going.  I just want to give this life all I've got because even when I'm weak, God is much stronger.  There are people that need to know about Jesus.  No matter if we're weak, we as Christians find what is hurting the most and run to it with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  That's why we're here.  That's why I want to serve.  The gospel of Jesus is enough for us.   There are so many people that need to hear that message.  

That really sums up it all.  I would be nothing without God.  I couldn't get through one day without Him!  Through all of this, He has taught me about joy.  My heart is so content.  It's almost scary just how at peace and how content I am through all of this.  The pain has been worse then it ever has been, but God is closer then ever and my heart is content.  It'll be alright. 

The other Sunday at church, the orchestra was playing with the choir and I saw the violinists.  I could play everything they were playing in my head and know exactly fingers and how it would feel on my left hand fingertips.  I just stopped what I was thinking and started praising God.  I was doing pretty good... just reading my Bible and leaving everything else up to Him!  He is so enough!  Then, someone left the door open to the closet where I packed my violin away and my case was sitting half-way out of the door.  I looked down and I wanted to grab it and play.. play without pain.  But, I just slid it back in and closed the door and I praised.  It's okay.   Then when my sister left for orchestra without me.... ahh. So whenever I get discouraged, I just look up to Jesus.  His love is beautiful.  I am so so blessed.  He is more then enough. 

A couple weeks ago, I woke up to shooting nerve pain.  It was so bad and all I could do was rock and back and forth.  Isaiah 41:10 came to my mind.  I started repeating to myself, “I AM WITH YOU.  I WILL HELP YOU.  I WILL STRENGTHEN YOU”  Oh I just started crying.  It hurt too much to cry but tears of joy were sliding down my face.  Jesus is enough!  He is so enough.  Even at the worst of times, He is there.  He is beautiful.  He is more then enough. 

My physical body truly IS my worst enemy.  I know this body will one day fail.  I will die.  But my soul will live forever.  It's like a war inside.  It's so weird to be in physical pain while being on fire for God.  It's the weirdest feeling I have ever had.  The pain physically hurts so much but my heart is so on fire that it reminds me that one day... all of this suffering I feel right now will be gone.  But what my heart is on fire and what it is on fire for will never die.

Over the past few months and especially weeks as the pain has gotten more intense, God has been closer then ever.  The crying of my heart seems to be drowned out.  When the pain hits, my mind goes right to prayer. I never noticed that until recently.  I thought "hey.  It's working!!!! That's the first thing I want to do when the pain hits the hardest.. I want to pray"  So I started to add something else.... praise.

My mind wants to yell how it hurts.  But the weirdest thing is my heart is content. 

And right now, I don't need to know why. 

God has my dreams.  He has my future.  He has shattered hope.  He has crushed goals.  He has a beautiful plan. 

I  know He could find a way to keep me from the pain.  He could find a way to have me still playing the violin.  He could find a way to have a full day without pain.  But,  He has a plan with this.  His answer is  trust Me.

If I've spent more then a couple treatments with different specialist people, they see I'm a Christian.  I just can't keep it inside.  I talk about God.  All the time.  More then ever now.  I can't get through one single day without Him.  He makes all of this bearable.  He makes it okay.  He makes broken dreams beautiful.  He holds me in the palm of His Hand.  

That is so overwhelming.  It's completely completely changing my life.  I look around... I see all these broken and hurting people.  With my arm, I have seen it more then ever.  Every single person in this world is hurting and broken.  I wake up every morning thinking about how much more I have to learn!  How much more I have to learn about loving God... there is so much to learn... and it's so overwhelming to see just a small little piece of how awesome God is.  

In worship, there was a line in one of the songs we sang that said You, God "are the defender of the weak"... If there's one small line that can completely humble and break me, it was that one.  I started dwelling on just that line.  To think of a just and perfectly holy God defending the weak?  The broken?  The hurting?  Someone so holy... so just... so incredibly flawless... coming to our level. Coming to die on a cross?  Taking on flesh?  To decimate sin?  And He then defends the weak? 

That. is. incredible.

I started to think of my own life.   I mean I've had to start brushing my teeth with my left hand.  Sometimes I eat with my left hand because I just can't do it with my right.  If I have to write more then one page, I can see my hand just grow weaker and weaker with each line.  Every day things are getting more and more difficult to do.  Doctors can't figure out exactly what it is.  Specialists.  Nothing.  To know that God... a perfect holy God would care about that?  Would care about my arm?  

It leaves me speechless. 

No matter how or what the next road will bring, He will win.  Even if it's hard... even if I get in another accident and I mess up my left arm and both are out of commission... I know God can NEVER give me too much that I can't handle with His Help.  It's okay to get discouraged sometimes.  But God is bigger then the battles.  No matter what, everything that comes into our lives have to go through His Hands first.  This has all gone through God's Hands first.   Isn't that incredible?? So God is here no matter what!

No. matter. what.

I am just awe-struck at the amazingness of my God.  If pain is what helps me to praise Him, then I truly just ask that He brings the rain.  Amidst the physical pain, my heart is just on fire.  So when people ask how I can keep praising Him, I just become speechless.  

His love leaves me speechless.  I cannot even begin to thank Him for dashing away my dreams to remind me HE IS MY LIFE.  He never fades.

But anyway - even after months of a cold hand, nerve problems, shooting pain, aching - it still hurts.  Honestly.  I wish I could say I get used to it.  But I don't.  Before dinner, it made me sick to my stomach.  Shooting pains up my arm will take away my appetite.  So I'll just try and convince myself that I'm hungry so I can eat. 

It usually works.  98% of the time.  It's mental.  It's really weird but it's true.  Then as soon as I get food in my stomach, I don't feel like I'm going to get sick.  It's crazy.  

I mean I'll go sit down on the sofa and close my eyes and start praying.  Pray that God would grow me in His Grace.  Humble me more.  Teach me more about trust.  Not always that the pain will go away (although so so many times that is how I want to pray) but that God would teach me more about worship.  Teach me more about loving Him. 

I lost a friend to cancer, I lost my best friend, our family put the house up for sale and planned to move 1100 miles away, my health failed, the seat next to my Dad in the truck was given to my brother, the horses went up for sale, my violin got packed up and sat in a closet untouched, nerve pain made me not hungry… it killed me.  I couldn’t control my life.  I tried so many things to try and control it.  But I couldn’t.   God used every single one of those things to show me the fact that He never changes.  These things came rapid fire, one after the other after the other after the other.  Right when I felt like I was going to be okay, something else would decimate my fragile hope.  I saw a lot of things were going wrong in my life.  I was so broken.  Scared.  Afraid.  I was fake.  I put on a fake smile.  I struggled layers and layers deep beyond what people could see.  God found me where I was at.  He changed my life.  I cannot at all even begin to explain how that has changed my life.

It’s not me.  It’s all Jesus Christ.  He has pulled me through.  He is more then enough.  When I have been feeling the worst, He used the times when I was weakest to remind me He is the strongest.   He has used all of this to be a huge opportunity to share the love of Jesus.

You know what's totally beautiful about suffering?  It's Jesus Christ.  Because every day when we stand, it is because He is here with us.  The most beautiful thing about walking through the fire is just seeing how God is closest.  He uses the broken and the weak!   When lots of things are going wrong, our trust grows.  It is incredible when things we love, dreams we have, break into pieces onto the ground that God is always doing it because HE loves us.  In all reality, He is picking up those pieces and making them into something more beautiful. 

There's something about raising your hands to the sky knowing that you can't get through a day without God's help.  He is so beautiful!  His love has radically changed my life!  He has taken what I was so angry about and turned it into something that I just want to praise Jesus!! 

I am just so overwhelmed that God is bigger then our sufferings.  He is bigger then everything we can see.  He is bigger then any struggle.  I've just finished 1 Corinthians yesterday and a verse in chapter 9 caught my eye especially. 

Everyone who enters an athletic contest practices self-control in everything. They do it to win a wreath that withers away, but we run to win a prize that never fades.

 We're running for a crown that will last forever.  God is with us on the run.  This world is passing away.  When you think about it, it's so short.  But, we are not our own.  We were bought with a price.  We have a race to run.  We are running for the Glory of the cause of Jesus Christ.  He is sufficient.  That is enough.

When we swim in the deep, He is right next to us.  He's always with us in the eye of a storm.  We endure.  We overcome.  Because Jesus Christ is the reason for everything.  He is the reason for hope.

Truth is, I don’t know how all of you feel.   I have my story, yes.   Even though I can’t understand all of your stories and exactly how you feel, I know that God can.  Remember that.  Nothing can separate you from His Love.  Nothing at all in this entire world. 

God has a really great reason for my arm.  He gave me my arm.  I've seen how scars and injuries are platforms where we can either glorify Jesus or complain.  I don't want to complain.  I want to use it for God's Glory.  Because rejoicing in suffering is like stepping on Satan's toes reminding him that he has not and will not win.  Yes.  It doesn't make the pain go away, doesn't change the fact that I can't play the violin much right now, but it does change my heart.  It reminds me why I'm here.  I'm not here for me.  I'm here for the cause of Jesus Christ.

Whatever you’re going through, know you aren’t alone.  God never fails.  I am praying for each of you.  May His Love wrap you and overflow your heart in peace.  Keep up the fight.  I can’t wait to meet each of you in heaven.  Keep the cross as your focus.  You’ll make it.  He is enough." 

God's Power Made Perfect in Weakness Pt. 2

I am going to hold off on the re-posting of the depth of God's love until I finish this series.  I have asked a blogger to write about her experience on God's power being made perfect in her weakness and she has resoundingly responded.  Who am I talking about?  If you have ever visited her blog Far From Perfect, you will know who I am talking about.  Her name is Jessica and she has been a huge encouragement to me in many ways.  May you be encouraged as well as she gives us her testimony on how God has used her weaknesses for His glory.  May God ultimately be glorified.  Sit back, relax, and be moved:

"A couple weeks ago, another specialist, one of many I have seen, started looking through my list of symptoms.  He got through the first page and to the second.  He read all the things I’ve given up.  He read the other specialists written up diagnoses.  Then he looked up to me.  He said, “You know what amazes me about people like you?  It’s amazing that you can still smile”. 

And I smiled.  My heart screamed out in my head, “but you don’t understand!!!  It’s OKAY!! THIS IS ALL OKAY!!!! GOD IS FAITHFUL!!!!!!!  His strength is enough!  My weakness is complete in Him!” 

But, I honestly don’t remember what I said back to him.  I just remember being carried away in my mind dwelling on how beautiful the love of Jesus Christ is.  He gets me through every single day.  I couldn’t do it without Him. 

God has given me a journey I wouldn’t have chosen for myself but I wouldn’t trade for the world.  The road of no answers and intense pain has fueled my faith like no other.  Josh asked if I would share my story and I accepted.  Something that many people would consider a tragedy has been beautiful.  If you saw me walking down the street, you wouldn’t notice anything different.  I have both arms and both legs.  I have an elbow brace on my right arm but otherwise; you wouldn’t know anything was wrong with me.  I don’t have cancer.  I’m not dying.  Sometimes people call me on the phone when I’m walking in a store and ask me how rehab therapy is going… people look over and give me weird looks.  Or I’ll run into somebody and they’ll ask “how’s therapy going??” or “how’s your treaments?  PLEASE call me if you need anything!”  Sometimes I’ll be at a restaurant and I’ll drop my fork. I feel bad for the poor waiter who keeps bringing me new silverware.   If I stand up to fast, I’ll fall over.  I have random bruises that show up if I hit something wrong. 

But, God’s strength is flawless. 

See it seems like yesterday when I was that like five year old girl with red hair and freckles holding a tiny brown instrument. The crowd clapped and the journey of her life began.  Every day, she practiced.  As she grew older, she was far beyond most others her age.  She played with quartets, for crowds, and won state championship titles.  She played for nursing homes.  She fiddled at her local county fair.  She played for dinner guests and Christmas parties.  She loved to play.  Her eyes lit up.  She started looking into big music schools and began working on audition pieces in order to make it in. She wasn’t sure if going professional was God’s Plan but she was open to it.  She loved to play.  She began to teach students of her own.  Goals were getting accomplished and the future looked bright for this promising musician.  

Then, in 2009, just over two weeks before the state finals competition, she had an accident.  It was just a retreat in a little town in the Rockies of Colorado and a large amusement park type swing.  Thinking it was just a strained shoulder, she came back full swing in practice.  The pain started severely.  It took everything she had to get through her state finals performance.  She lost.  Lost the champion title.  However, the pain in her shoulder took over her thoughts.  She couldn't move without shooting pains.  The first of countless specialists seen.  The first of xrays.  The pain got worse.  She was in an arm sling most of the time.  The pain surpassed a previous broken arm. God seemed silent.  She couldn't put it into words.  She started feeling sick to her stomach because of pain levels.  She made the difficult decision to quit the violin.  Having hope, she visited other therapists trying to find a quick answer.  Weeks turned into months as she continued to live with pain.  She was checked twice for a torn rotator cuff. She began to physical therapy to gain back motion lost in her shoulder.

 Promising answers and strength regained showed hope!  She picked back up the violin and slowly slid back into intense practice sessions.  She made the cut for state finals again.  The pain started to totally diminish.  However, little things started to happen.  She started continually dropping her fork.  She couldn't hold her violin bow for long periods of time.  Her right hand grew considerably weaker and one day, she dropped a galloon of milk.  She dropped dishes.  She dropped notebooks and pens.  Anything she picked up with her right hand, she dropped.  The pain came back worse then ever seconded with hand failure.  She fought through the summer trying to ignore it but the pain grew.  The battles she had to overcome.  She knew it'd only be God to get through her state finals performance.  She stood on that stage with a heart full of joy.  She knew it would be her last time performing.  She poured every last bit of strength she had into that performance for the glory of God.  She wasn't nervous.  She loved to play.  Three-quarters through, her arm began to give out but God helped her finish.  He helped her finish the performance of a lifetime, winning the state championship title.  With a duet including her sister's flute, they were also named five-time champions for the state of Colorado.  She came home thankful and so overwhelmed how God got her through.  The pain began to get worse and worse until she could barely do things such as brushing her teeth and shampooing her hair.  Her balance began to fade, major pressure headaches came every day, and her right side became weaker and weaker.  She went to a doctor and they ordered a neck MRI.  Finding nothing in the neck MRI, they ordered a brain MRI.  The symptoms were pointing towards the possibility of a brain tumor.  After eleven days of waiting for results, it came back normal.   The relief and joy swept over the entire family!  Looking more into the issue, she went to specialist after specialist.  She became weaker and weaker.  Pain took up her strength.  She spent many days in the house on the sofa reading her Bible trying to get through it.

Finally, it hit.  She would never be able to go professional.  She had to completely quit.  She had to drop out of one of the biggest youth orchestras in the state.  More then that, growing up as a ranch kid all her life, she put her horses up for sale.  She saved her best horse for last but he had to go too.  Shattered dreams.  

By God’s blessings and incredible plan, this is my story.  It wouldn’t be one I would have chosen for myself at the beginning.  But, I see how God has used all of it to spread the gospel.  It’s beyond humbling.  I am so overwhelmed by the love of Jesus Christ.  Everything in my life is for His Glory.  No matter what, He remains.  The journey of the injury of my arm has been incredible.  There have been mountains and valleys but somehow, there has been more joy then I can put into words.  Sometimes faith doesn’t have answers that we seem to think are best but God is faithful.  The things that we believe in without Him just lie.  There is nothing as beautiful as His Love. 

I lost count of the times I asked God “why”.  I’m the oldest of four kids.  We’re really close and watching them struggle with my injury hurt most of all.  Finding one crying in a room for me.  Finding another leaving a note on my bed after a treatment saying “I wish I could take this for you”.  Watching my mom start crying when she said she just wanted me to be able to go to college.  They’ve stood by me every step of the way.  I have been blessed so much.  I have the best family in the entire world. 

My immune system has become so run down that if I am near someone who has a cold or any sort of virus, I’ll come down with it.  It’s getting a ton better and God is using doctors and a ton of vitamins to help with that.  But, it’s hard.  It truly is.

I am standing here today because Jesus is alive.  His Love is incredible.  I can’t even describe it or put into words.  I never really understood how God is your complete strength before this… but I get that now."  End Part 2  

We will hear the continuation of her story in Part 3. 

   

Abiding in Christ

Hello, my name is Josh. While I'm Waiting is my blog where I enjoy documenting my life and sharing my musings and opinions.

First of all, thank you very much to Joshua for giving me the opportunity to share on his blog. He asked me to write a post on a passage of scripture that has made the most impact on my life and why. A straight-forward, simple answer would be nearly impossible.

Over the last year, God has given me a desire for Him. I have read many verses and portions of scripture that touch me. God’s Word is living (Hebrews 4:12). There are times I read a verse and am so overcome by its relevancy to my situation, am so blessed by God’s promise, or am stricken with conviction at warnings, exhortations, and instruction.

Of the many passages in scripture that have influenced me, the verses that I have recently been meditating on are in John 15 when Jesus illustrates a Christian’s relationship with Himself.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me, you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

Jesus is the life giver and the sustainer; the vine. Christians? We are the branches that should be attached solely to Christ, drawing our strength from Him, and producing fruit for God.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of the word Abide is: To rest, or dwell.

Before I began to learn to abide in Christ, I was selfish and arrogant. My only concern was manipulating God so I could get my way. I was all talk on the outside, and though I was able to trick some into thinking I was a very “good sort of Christian”, once I let myself evaluate what lay under the surfaces of my heart, I quickly realized that I was not remotely close to the person I was pretending to be. I was a poser.

Over the past ten months as I have been learning to abide in Christ, God has completely changed my focus, given me a love for His word, radically changing my spirit, and now I have begun to see the beginnings of fruit in my life. No longer do I seek to fit God in my agenda if it works in my favor, but I have begun to experience the joy that comes from being surrendered to God’s will and being willing to do whatever He asks. Also, instead of anxiously trying to figure out how to make my vision work and being thrown into a minor cardiac arrest every time I met opposition, I have learned to rest knowing that God has a plan more infinitely wonderful than I could ever imagine. Now, my greatest joy is waiting to see what God will do with my life and what His awesome plan holds. ABIDE: to rest, or dwell.

I am the first to confess that I am not perfect, and do not say the previous sentiments to brag on myself, but to testify to the power of God in one person’s life. The joy that comes from abiding in Christ is not just wishful imaginations, or a “holy-put-on Christianity”, I am here to tell you that it is real. God desires that you to place your trust in him, resting fully, and dwelling richly in His holiness. It is possible.

I exhort you to rest and dwell in Him. May you begin to experience in your own life, the joy that comes from abiding in Christ!

Biblical Assurance

So one thing I’ve been thinking a lot on lately is the doctrine of biblical assurance. That is, “Does the bible say there is a way we, as believers, can be sure of our salvation?” What does the doctrine of biblical assurance look like? What are some ways we can examine our lives, as Paul exhorts us to do in 2 Corinthians 13: 5-10, to see if we are truly His children? The apostle John speaks most clearly to the subject.

Let’s start in 1 John 5:13. We read “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” This is a powerful statement by John when you actually think about it. This implies that there actually is a way to be sure of salvation. John’s exhortation is not only to be treated as an instruction to the church, but as a revelation, and more importantly, a confirmation of the grace which God poured out upon the letter’s readers. And be mindful of the context here: John is writing to believers.

Hopefully everyone agree in its entirety: salvation is a GIFT from God. A reading of Romans 1-3 makes it very clear that the bible teaches that men are dead in their sin. And by dead, we mean dead. Why do you think Paul uses such strong language when he explains our natural spiritual condition? It is to truly show our inability to choose God or His way. Natural man is not only born in sin, but is conceived in sin, and has the freedom to do only according to his nature. Since his nature is morally corrupt, he will always choose the things of the flesh. Thus, our fallen condition requires that we are rescued by something or someone outside of ourselves. This is God’s gift of grace through faith.

Realizing that salvation is gift from God, an outpouring of His saving grace, we see that God does the seeking and saving (Luke 19:10). And since it is entirely God’s work, God promises that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). God will always finish his work; ALWAYS. And the omnipotent God of the universe cannot fail in his work. We are created, finite beings; and no created thing can thwart the will of an eternal & sovereign God. How our free wills work together perfectly with God’s unchangeable will is a topic for another discussion.

But let’s look at another passage that addresses this issue of the God’s perfect work of saving and sanctifying us, through faith in Christ:

John 10:27-30 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Now we have to be very discerning as to how we treat the concept in assurance. It does not mean that we can continue to live in sin because we “know that God is merciful.” I’ve heard someone say that “it is an absolute, no second question, no explanation, no hearing of your life story, impossibility for you to be saved and yet live in a continual state of worldliness.” That’s a powerful statement.

We read in Romans 6 Paul addressing exactly this issue. In verse 1, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can he who died to sin still live in it?” After a brief explanation of what it means to have ”died to sin” he concludes his point in verse 14, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but grace.” I would ask all of you to read the entire chapter to more fully understand the argumentation and process of thought Paul uses. But the words written here, that sin will have NO power over you because of God’s grace in your life, should cause us to very carefully examine our lives.

I’m immediately taken to Hebrews 12, and the words written there “If you are left without discipline...then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” What the author is trying to convey here is that if you are living your life in a state of pervasive and continual sin, and you feel no conviction from the Holy Spirit of that sin, through the chastisement of God Himself, then you seriously need to examine your heart and call to question the genuineness of your salvation.

So in reflecting on your life, can you see God’s omnipotent hand stirring your heart to desire to be more like Christ? Increased conviction, growing in repentance, and maturing in faith are a few marks of God’s grace in your life. This does not mean you won’t continually struggle at times. But if we truly believe in Christ’s accomplished work on the cross, the conviction and sorrow we have when we do sin will not result in a somber attitude, but will humble us yet again before throne of Grace, and cause us to cry out for forgiveness and mercy. During our lives we will continue to recognize our need of God and our total dependence on Him. HE IS ALL WE HAVE.

In all of this, I encourage you to pray for a heightened sensitivity to sin. The prayer that the psalmist prays in Psalm 139: 23-24 is a good place to start. We all need to continue to develop a very high view of God and very comprehensive knowledge of what sin is and what its consequences are. R.C. Sproul calls even the smallest sins “cosmic treason” against God. Read through the book of 1 John and take the tests John lays out for us to use to examine our lives in the light of God’s truth.

One thing that I’ve realized as I’ve studied historical theology is that the Christians that are the most devoted are the Christians that know the most of their depravity. We see throughout history that the men most used by God are those that prior to conversion, lived lifestyles of heinous sins. And without the recognition of who we truly are apart from Christ, we will never appreciate God’s gift. Knowledge of what we are being saved from, makes our appreciation of grace all the greater.

By His Grace, For His Glory

- Keith Bence

Complete in Christ -- Philippians 3

For the third day of guest posts, I'll be filling in. My name is Camden, and I run the blog Counter Cultural. If you already know my blog, you probably won't be too surprised by my formatting style. =) Anywho, on with business. Joshua asked me to share a passage that's been particularly impacting in my life. Now, while there are many I could share, I kept coming back to Philippians 3. If you want to follow along with the passage, you can do so Here.

I think one of the big challenges of this upcoming generation is the idea that we are saved by faith alone. I don't know about you, but for me personally, trying to please God with what I do is often a big issue for me. I think that I can impress God, or at least make Him think better of me in case I know I've sinned. If we could boast in the good things we've done for God -- as Paul says it, putting "confidence in the flesh" -- I'd be doing pretty well. I do tech and sing at my church. I've co-directed a car wash fundraiser that's raised over 10,000 dollars. I've been a part of a drama team for a week-long youth convention of 5,000 teens. I guess overall you could say I've done some pretty great things for God.

Okay, if you didn't already know, Paul's point is exactly the opposite. We can't do enough to appease God. After telling his readers all the great things he's done, Paul hits them with some of the most powerful words in scripture. "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ." Please, if you get nothing else from this post, let the words of verses 7-11 soak into you. We can do nothing to find favor with God, because He's already done everything for us. We can't add to the infinite value of Jesus Christ's death on the cross. That's why everything in our lives is worth nothing unless we use them to pursue Christ even more.

There's a lot more I could say, but let's move on. First, Paul commends his readers to forget their past burdens and press on for Christ (v. 13). I think it's so easy to get discouraged by our past sins, but if Christ has indeed forgiven us, we are free to live for Him with the burdens of our past temporarily completely erased! Secondly, in light of everything counting as loss for Christ, I think we all need a priority check. What takes up our time? Are we like the people Paul describes in verse 19, with "minds set on earthly things," or are we going to follow Paul's example (v. 17)?

Listen, if you try to satisfy God with anything besides what He's already done, you'll fail. But if you strive to live for Him in the forgiveness that He's granted, then we can rejoice in a day where Jesus Christ will come for us. Jesus is worth everything, his forgiveness covers all, and He gives us the power through the Holy Spirit to live for Him.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Camden

Abolishing Fallacious Arguments Against The Truth

When I first gave my heart to the Lord, I was enrolled in two college level Philosophy courses; Critical Thinking and World Religions. You can probably guess that my faith was heavily attacked (at least intellectually) during that period of time. I was a brand new Christian, and there I was in the most hostile environment for a neophyte (novice) Jesus freak.

In my personal time with the Lord, I remember my faith being unusually strong. I never doubted my newfound conviction even in the face of anti-Christian arguments. There was something sweet about those first few weeks as a born again Christian. While my home devotions were reaching uncharted depths in the Lord, I was encountering the most fiercely atheistic and anti-Christian verbal abuse I would come into contact with even years later to this day. Satan was really working on me, but God had something else in mind (as he almost always does), “for he who is in you is greater then he who is in the world” 1 John 4:4.

After listening to my professors give lecture after lecture on the “absurdity” of an all-powerful God, and watching my peers around me nod in agreement like lemmings, I knew I had to do something. With every cutting remark my ears would start burning, my heart would begin to pulse abnormally, my veins would flood with adrenaline and I would feel something like a currant flow from my toes through my body to my head. It’s interesting to note that the Greek word used in the New Testament for the third person of the trinity, the “Spirit,” is ‘pneuma.’ It can also be translated as “a current.” I do not overlook this fact; I truly believe God’s Spirit moves most palpably through me when I come into contact with antagonistic atheism.

My college bible study pastor gave me R.C. Sproul’s Reasons to Believe, and Josh McDowell's Evidence that Demands a Verdict to help me answer some of the questions I had from class; my life changed forever. That was my introduction to, and what would eventually become my infatuation with the art of apologetics. Apologetics comes from the Greek word ‘apologia,’ which is translated, “to give a defense.” This word is most famously used in the bible verse that has been most influential in my life; “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” 1Peter 3:15.

I read Lee Strobel’s, The Case For Christ, The Case for a Creator and The Case for Faith, then Norman Geisler and Frank Turok’s I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be an Atheist, then Dinesh D’souza’s What's So Great about Christianity. I was hooked and I needed more, I needed stronger arguments. Then I found William Lane Craig. To put it simply, Craig is the atheist’s worst nightmare. Outspoken atheist Christopher Hitchens, and author of the book, God is not Great, said of Craig in an pre-debate press conference at Biola University, “I can tell you that my brothers and sisters and co-thinkers in the unbelieving community take him (Craig) very seriously. He’s thought of as a very tough guy, very rigorous, very scholarly, very formidable. I say that without reserve... Normally I don’t get people saying, ‘Good luck tonight!’ or ‘Don’t let us down!’ But with him I do.”

William Lane Craig has become a sort of mentor to me. His books such as Reasonable Faith, Time and Eternity, and Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (which he co-authored with J.P. Moreland), have become staple readings I frequently refer to.

Apologetics is rooted deeply in philosophy. One must understand the basic laws of logic such as the law of identity, the law of no-contradiction and the law of the excluded middle (which are ideas we unknowingly accept and use every day) in order to fully comprehend apologetic augmentation. Once these simple axioms are understood, apologetics become very organic to the mind. Some of the more powerful Christian apologetic arguments are the Moral Argument, the Kalam Cosmological Argument, the Ontological Argument, and the Teleological Argument. If you make these your own and learn how to effortlessly inject them into daily conversation, they become deadly to non-Christian debaters. Every worldview other than the Christian worldview is fallacious and easily debunked if you spend just a little time in the woodshed studying apologetics and philosophy.

I believe that all Christians are called in scripture to be apologists. There is of course the aforementioned 1 Peter 3:15 which simply says to “always [be] prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” But there are a slew of verses in the bible that ask Christians to bone-up on their apologetic skills; Jude 1:3 tells us to “contend for the faith.” Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:5-6 that “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”

It seems we are also called to be philosophers. I mean this of course in the simplest sense of the word. ‘Philo’ in Greek means “a noble or brotherly love,” and ‘sophia’ means “wisdom.” A philosopher is someone who loves wisdom. In Colossians 4:5 Paul urges us to “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders.” Proverbs 4:5-13 says “Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown. Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.” Finally, Jesus says in Matthew 22:37 to “love the Lord your God with all your mind.”

After much study, I was able to participate in arranged debates in my philosophy classes and know that I had the upper hand. I was able to show where my atheistic opponent’s arguments fall apart and become contradictory or hypocritical. This is the flaw in every non-Christian worldview. The problem is that most non-Christians don’t know or understand where their worldviews become absurd. When the Christian points it out, the non-Christian normally becomes angry and falls into ad hominem attacks (making fun of the Christian in stead of making a real point).

But attacks should never dissuade the Christian apologist. Rather, it should demonstrate the weakness of the non-Christian position. It reveals a terrified soul behind the curtain beginning to see the truth. There are implications that follow the fact the theism and Christianity are really true. Namely, that there are consequences to our actions. When the non-believer sees the truth and power in Jesus they predictably resort to what I call “the possum effect.” When a possum is backed into a corner or feels it’s life at stake, it will hiss and snarl bite and foam at the lips. Romans 1:18-22 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…”

We have an omnipotent, all-loving God on our side urging us to interact with non-believers and test their beliefs while demonstrating the truth of the gospel message. We must do our part by studying apologetics and not be afraid to stand up to non-believers so as to declare the truth of our faith, “for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

- Jon Fleetwood

Romans 12: Overcoming Evil

Hey everybody. My name is Dakota, from the blog A Look at Life from a Deerstand. Joshua, the person whose posts you're used to reading here, has been kind enough to ask me to write a guest blog while he is away and, if you don't mind, I'd like for us to focus for a few moments on one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible: Romans 12.

I guess the reason I love this chapter so much is because it touches on so many important topics. It speaks of a Christian's proper relationship to God and to the world (v.1-2), the necessity of humility in the life of a believer (v. 3), how the body of Christ functions (v. 4-8), and countless other subjects that are very relevant in today's day and age. Despite the fact that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (II Timothy 3:16), it seems that Romans 12 has always be exceedingly precious to God's people. And rightfully so. Whether you are battling a desire to get revenge, laziness, or depression, you can find what you need in these 21 verses.

But I guess the verse that jumps out at me the most in this entire chapter would have to be verse 21. Paul closes this portion of his letter with the words: "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." You see, it's not enough to simply abstain from the evil things of this world. Yes, David told us in Psalm 1:1 not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful; but he went on to say in verse 2 that we should find our delight in God's precious Word, and to meditate therein continually. What that means is that fleeing evil things is not enough; we must also pursue righteousness!

Are you doing as Paul admonishes us and "overcoming evil with good", or do you spend all of your time avoiding the sin, yet doing nothing that truly advances the kingdom of God? If the latter description fits you best, then lets change that today. No, not tomorrow. Today! There is no better way to use the day with which you have been blessed than to make an intentional effort to glorify God with your life, for as Paul said in another Scripture, "...we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)